Inconceivable
by Siriusly Orion Wicked
Summary: Reinventing her life at 28 wasn't something Hermione had ever expected to do. Divorced and unemployed, she goes back to England full of rage and resentment, fearing her best years are behind her. Just as she's about to lose hope, a chance encounter can change everything. HG/?


**AN: Life hasn't been easy last year or so. This is a general note for all stories, old and new. I'll be posting whatever's on my drive the next couple of weeks, in the hopes to make up for everything that is dark in my life and also hoping someone somewhere might enjoy it. I thank you all for being so patient with my other stories, I'll get to them eventually, I promise.**

 **Until then, I'll simply say THANK YOU for sticking with me; to the new readers, welcome and thank you for reading; to the favourites and follows, I'm very happy you're interested in reading more and that you like what you read; to the reviewers, you'll never know what your words mean, a little encouragement goes a long way.**

 **As always, you can find me on Tumblr by the same handle.**

 **Love you all**

 **SW**

...

"Hermione, calm down," said Ginny.

"Calm down? _Calm down_? How many times have you said that to someone and it resulted in them _calming down_?" Hermione was seething and Ginny was certainly not helping. "I'll tell you why, even perfectly calm people will grow upset if someone is repeatedly telling them to "Calm down", and I am _most certainly_ more than upset," she bit out.

"I'm only trying to help, Hermione." Ginny was growing impatient too, she wasn't exactly known for her tolerant demeanour.

"How exactly are you trying to accomplish that?" She was being unreasonable. She knew that but how could she possibly talk to _his sister_ about this.

Ginny took a deep breath, clearly trying to contain her own rage and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Tell me what happened."

"I can't. I'll explode!" As she said this a vase near the living room shattered into pieces, the deafening sound sounding almost like a gunshot. Ginny jumped out of her seat, startled by the sound but Hermione just kept pacing around the kitchen only pausing to scream.

"ARGH! I've been having bursts of accidental magic ever since I found out. I can't hold it in, Ginny. It feels almost like I'm being electrically charged every time I think about it and then it's just moving inside me like a caged animal, begging to get out." She didn't know how it was possible but she was growing more anxious by the minute.

"Electracle what?" Ginny started confused. "Has this been happening all week? Have you gone to see a healer? This is not normal, Hermione, something could be seriously wrong."

"No shit! Something is wrong, Ginny. Nothing a healer can help me with. At least not a magical one. If your ignorance of the muggle world weren't so arresting maybe I'd bother explaining what electricity and psychiatry are." She spat.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Do I not have the required level of intelligence to hold a conversation with the mighty Hermione Granger? Ron's right about that you, know? You talk down to us all like we're a less evolved species and yes, I know what Evolution means!" Ginny screamed back.

That sobered Hermione up. Of course, she didn't think Ginny stupid or any of her friends for that matter, but she certainly said things while she was angry that made it seem so.

"This isn't accomplishing anything," Hermione said tiredly.

"You know what?" Ginny exploded. "I'm going to go home and find Harry. It was a complete waste of time and a perfectly good portkey to come here. Maybe he'll be able to help you." She started making for the door and Hermione had to hurry her steps to stop her.

"No, I meant attacking each other isn't accomplishing anything. It's not each other that we're angry with. It's not actually making me feel better and I don't want to make you feel as miserable as I am, despite the way I just acted. I'm sorry." Cutting Ginny out of her life was the last thing she wanted to do.

Ginny cooled down just a quickly as her temper had risen. She had a look of sympathy on her face and a touch of pity that Hermione couldn't handle. Looked away from her friend she started pacing again in the kitchen.

"Let's not let our tempers get the better of us, then."

"You don't understand Ginny! I'm not just angry, it's not simple anger… it's… it's wrath. My very being is being consumed, corroding from the inside out. It's hot in my veins and it quickens my pulse, I can hear my eardrums beating wildly in tempo with my heart. Then it grows heavy, I can feel it swelling in my chest, slowing its pace but it beats harder, deeper, like a steam Locomotive and at that point, I'm ready to combust!" She was pacing faster now, her hair growing wild with her movement, her hands up in passionate explanation. "It's almost like having a living thing, a wild thing inside of me, completely out of control."

Hermione grew quiet for a moment, pondering on how best to explain the turmoil happening inside her. Ginny just watched her sit down, not knowing what to say. Then her eyes lit up with understanding, Hermione seemed to be having an epiphany of sorts and then a great sadness overtook her.

"Fiendfyre. It feels like Fiendfyre." She looked at her friend, tears making their way up to her eyes. "The person I loved the most lit Fiendfyre inside of me." Hermione looked wrecked for a split second and just as Ginny made to stand up and hug her, the bookworm stood up in an instant, cleared her eyes and started for the door.

"Ok, I'm moving back to England today." She stated before going to the sole bedroom in the small apartment.

"What? Today? Hermione, Ron's going to lose his Visa if you move back." Ginny's eyes grew large, knowing she'd made a mistake the instant the words left her mouth. "I'm so-" the redhead started to say in a panic but it was too late.

"EXCUSE ME? RON'S VI- You know what? Maybe he should have thought about that before he cheated on his wife! HIS VISA? He's going to lose so much more than that, believe _me!_ " Hermione stormed to the bedroom bathroom, picking up everything she recognised as hers.

"His visa!" She scoffed. "He's going to get the divorce papers before he can wrap his mind around the fact that I know. I don't even care that he cheated on me with Viktor! Though that's a shitty friend no matter how you look at it. I'm angrier at myself, that I knew, _I knew_ I couldn't trust him."

She walked back into the bedroom, arms full of toiletries and threw them unceremoniously on top of the bed. She went to the closet next.

"The night he left Harry and me in the middle of the forest, I knew. I tried to convince myself that Ron didn't mean it, that he was just scared. But it just showed me who he was at the moment we most needed him!" Hermione was half-screaming at this point, completely worked up. She kept throwing things in a disorderly manner into a tiny beaded bag that had to be bigger on the inside to fit the large red umbrella she had just shoved inside of it.

"How does that have to do with him cheating on you?" It was a reflex, asking the question. Ginny was just enthralled by the sight of Hermione Granger doing anything that looked so… chaotic.

"It goes to show that when things get rough he runs and does something stupid! But if he thinks I'm going to take him back after this he is dead wrong!" By now she had shoved everything that lay atop her nightstand and in the corresponding drawer. She was now very carefully, if a bit hectically, putting her books inside a box that appeared to be similarly charmed to hold more than it should.

"I know, I know. How did you find out again?" Ginny didn't think Hermione had mentioned that when she had shown up in their flat in Kazakhstan.

"Theodore Nott."

"What? You're telling me you're taking the word of a snake over my brothers without even talking to him?" She hadn't doubted Hermione's words when she said Ron had been sleeping around with Viktor Krum, not even when the gender of the person he had cheated with, had surprised her. George was gay, she'd known since they were kids but she had never known Ron to be interested in men. The source, however, changed things. The Slytherin might be lying.

"Do not defend him, Ginevra Weasley! I'm no idiot, he had proof. He brought pictures. _Very_ explicit moving pictures." She'd grounded out the last sentence. "He came to warn me that an exposé is coming out this weekend. We worked on a few things together before Ron and I moved here, we became close." She was now shrinking the box and putting it inside the beaded bag.

"Oh…" was the only thing Ginny could manage.

"Yes. _Oh_." Hermione twisted her lips in a snarl.

"And to think I moved to this place because I wanted Ron to pursue his dream career! I uprooted my whole life for that imbecile. The only team that would take him into professional Quidditch was the bloody Kazakhstan Leopards!" Hermione went to see what else in the living room and kitchen belonged to her and only her. She'd deal with the rest later.

"That says a lot, doesn't it?" She continued. "And I allowed it! I can't, for the life of me, remember what possessed me to help him get a visa so he could play in their National team. He'll never be a Kazakhstani now! I won't stay here so that he can still claim residency here while he travels with the team. He had no home here, he never led a life here… and now he never will. At most he'll own an apartment by the time I'm done."

The pictures were all hers, of her family and his, their friends. He had brought none of his own. The paintings were hers, the vases… all the decorations really. She had brought them from her last flat when she still lived alone. It was a rough realisation, to see that anything that made the place something more than a hotel, belonged to her. There was no trace of Ron's life here.

"I'm done. Could I stay with you and Harry for a day or two?" Hermione was standing in front of the fireplace. "When does your portkey leave? Is it timed or does it have a window of time for use?" she asked.

"It's good for another fifteen hours. I didn't know what I would find here or how long I would need to stay." Hermione smiled at that. Ginny was a great friend. "I won't even acknowledge the question about staying with us or I might smack you."

"Let's go then. Ron won't be back before the article comes out but I don't want to take any chances. He'll know immediately I know about it, I may or may not have given a statement to Theo before he left." Hermione looked defiant as if waiting for Ginny to complain or be outraged on behalf of her brother.

"Nothing he didn't deserve, I'm sure," Ginny replied simply.

Hermione had to smile, then, a warmth in her stomach for the first time since the whole debacle had started. It was Ginny's brother she was talking about, after all. This could have gone one of two ways and Hermione was beyond relieved that she wouldn't have to lose someone else.

Apprehension filled her again when the portkey activated. She'd be back at home where everyone would have unsolicited advice and opinions. She was worried about what would happen when the rage faded out and she was forced to face her true feelings about the whole thing.

 _One day at a time, Hermione. One day at a time_ , she told herself.


End file.
